I've watched the "synthetic vs. conventional" debate on the Saturn forums for
some time now. Generally with older engines (re: higher mileage and not freshly
rebuilt), There's abuild up of sludges and stuff where the gaskets may have
deteriorated. Synthestic oils thend to have good detergent packages that clean
out these deposits, exposing the weaknesses that were already there and causing
leaks. If your engine is older, you may want to at least change the valve cover
and oil pan gaskets when you change to synthetic...
my 2 cents.
-=Chris
Chris King - cbking@alum.rpi.edu
'79 Midget
'00 SW2
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From "Michael Knisely" <mdknisely at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 08:08:51 -0500
>>I have been considering changing my boring Ford Escort to synthetic, and a
>>friend told me that the gaskets won't swell as much with it, causing leaks.
>>Have you experienced any of that? Also, when I change over should I flush
>>the engine? I have also heard that cross contamination is a problem.
>
>Degergent oil, which keeps foreign particles suspended, is more likely to
>cause leakage than the old non-detergent oil. Never heard about synthetic
>oil acting that way on gaskets.
>
>Michael
>
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